3 Ways to Make Friends With Facebook’s New Changes
“Ugh! Facebook changed its algorithm…AGAIN!” Sound familiar?
Your salon’s Facebook marketing efforts can feel like an uphill battle, but that’s where most business owners are getting it wrong. Instead of trying to fight the Facebook algorithm, you need to get friendly with it.
In fact, treating Facebook like the virtual venue for your salon’s dinner party where you’re the friendly host for all your ideal clients is the best way to see both your page’s reach and engagement grow.
Because rather than being the business that acts more like a commercial break (where everyone’s eyes glaze over, or they take the chance to grab a snack), you’re creating an atmosphere where people want to listen to you, and more importantly, they want to join in on the conversation.
In this blog post, I’m going to let you in on why the algorithm changes aren’t as “big” or as “bad for business” as you may think, plus the three fundamental ways you can achieve relevance with your salon’s social media marketing.
If you’d rather listen to this post, CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast episode.
Why The Algorithm Change Isn’t As Scary As You Think
First things first, as everyone panics as they hear about these changes, I want to put things into perspective.
Facebook is full…
What I mean by that is that there is currently a higher volume of content than there is time spent in the newsfeed by users, which is a basic supply and demand issue.
And because Facebook is a business (and needs to make a profit, just like we do), they are only going to put the most relevant content in front of their users because the more relevant a piece of content is for a user, the longer they will stay and engage within the platform.
Essentially, this algorithm change really isn’t much of a change at all. Over the last several years Facebook has increasingly put more emphasis on relevance and personal interactions, and that focus is merely deepening.
I actually believe this is beneficial for business owners, especially those in the salon and beauty industries because it’s forcing the cream to rise to the top.
Only those salon owners who make an effort to be present, relevant and are open to the mindset of creating meaningful connections will continue to grow their reach and engagement.
So how do you do that?
Using what I call the Dinner Party Method.
3 Ways to Treat Your Social Media Like a Dinner Party and Boost Your Salon’s Relevance
1) Tell a Story
Gone are the days where you can post an image of your work or a hairstyle you created with the caption, “Love this!”
Back in the early stages of social media marketing, brands were able to broadcast their updates and treat their profiles like a stage.
Now we need to change our frame of mind and talk with our audience and not at them.
For example, imagine you’re at a dinner party. At dinner parties, people typically gather around in small circles conversing, and there’s always someone in the group that tells a great story and draws you in, but they also allow the conversation to flow back and forth.
As you’re standing in front of your computer or scrolling through your phone, rather than posting something vague or non-engaging, think of what you’d say if you were that person sharing your story in a small circle at an intimate dinner party.
You wouldn’t just hold up your phone and say, “Love this!” You’d give more details and context to create a conversation with the person or people you were sharing with.
If you want people to engage with what you’re posting on your salon’s social media, you need to give your audience the opportunity to participate with you by practicing the art of storytelling.
2) Think of Your Audience
Going back to my stage analogy, when you’re broadcasting or blasting your message as if you were higher up on a stage, what you have to say is going to go right over everyone’s head.
Because when you try to talk to everyone, you're really talking to no one since you’re not saying anything specific to capture their attention.
However, when you go to a dinner party, typically it’s with people you know or a mix of people you know and some new people, but there’s a sense of community and underlying trust because it’s a more intimate setting.
When you translate that idea to your social media marketing, you’re going to pick one type of person you love serving, having in your chair or doing business with and cater your conversation to her because she is your ideal client.
As you speak to her directly through your social media posts, more people like your ideal client will start to pay attention and engage with you.
3) Be Present and Engage
One of the best parts of a dinner party is that you’re able to have genuine connections with friends or people you’d like to become friends with because you’re present with them.
Of course, the beauty of social media is that we can connect with our ideal clients without them needing to be directly in front of us at our reception desk, but even the way we can be present on social media has changed.
Back to my point that Facebook is getting full and people are spending less time in their newsfeeds, it doesn’t mean they’re not still on Facebook; they’re just moving to different areas of Facebook, namely Groups and Messenger.
What used to be the necessity of having the capability for online booking, is now being present and available to engage within instant Messenger.
You’re getting messages at 11 p.m. asking if you have an opening tomorrow, which is great for business, but not for your beauty sleep.
Thankfully, there are solutions to achieving this balance so you can maintain a presence on your social media profiles while still getting a good night’s rest, but know that this is the new way of communication.
Just like at a dinner party, you need to be approachable, open, and present to create a connection, spur engagement and strengthen that know, like and trust factor that ensures when someone sees you at their next "dinner party," they’re going to stop to say hi and chat.
P.S. - Want to see how salon owners are starting meaningful conversations with their ideal client using Facebook’s Instant Messenger? CLICK HERE to learn more about Salon Bot.
About the author, Larissa
Business Coach & Marketing Strategist: After 20 years of salon business I worked in online marketing & technology development, Business Development Manager at Timely Salon Software and co-founded HAIRshare app for Stylist.
I love helping stylists & salons with marketing strategies, the latest technology and working smarter, not harder in salon business.
Salon Owners Collective is an online community with the mission of inspiring and empowering Salon Owners from around the globe to grow beyond owner operator. Turn your ideas into a reality, build successful businesses and live with clarity and purpose.